Four Indian women from Kerala believed to be Sonia Sebastian alias Ayisha, Merin Jacob alias Merrin, Nimisha Nair alias Fathima Isa, and Raffaela had traveled to Afghanistan with their families in 2016-18 to reside in the Islamic State in Khorasan Province (ISKP) area. In November 2019, all those four women surrendered to Afghan authorities after their husbands were killed in separate attacks.
Indian officials from the External Affairs Ministry and Intelligence organizations, who investigated those four women in an Afghan jail, reported to the Indian government that they were extremely radicalized.
In a recent interview, Fathima’s mother Bindu criticized the central government for refusing to let her daughter return, stating, ” Why are they not allowing my daughter back into the country. Let her undergo a trial and be given the punishment according to the law of the land. She has a small child and I don’t know why the authorities are so adamant on this.”
It was alleged that several Hindu and Christian girls were lured by Muslim youths, taken to IS strongholds, and trained as terrorists. The BJP, RSS, and other Hindu organizations, as well as a few Christian groups in Kerala, were at the forefront of campaigns that girls in Kerala were lured under the guise of love, converted, and radicalized, with some of them ending up in locations like Afghanistan and Syria as IS fighters.
In 2009, Justice K.T.Sankaran of the Kerala High Court while hearing a bail plea of a Muslim youth arrested allegedly for converting two Hindu girls, remarked, “The police reports revealed the blessings of some outfits for a concerted effort for religious conversions.” He observed that cases of forcible religious conversions under the guise of love were taking place and asked the government to enact legislation to ban such activities.
Meanwhile, the RSS and other Hindu organizations, as well as few Christian organizations, have already said that the issue of ‘Love Jihad’ has to be taken for major discussion with the new developments.
J.Nandakumar, a senior RSS leader and convenor of the think tank ‘Prajnapravah,’ stated: “You can call it ‘Love Jihad,’ ‘Romeo Jihad,’ or whatever you want, but these four women are a classic example of how there is a planned and concerted effort to lure Hindu and Christian girls, radicalize them, and send them across to fight in Afghanistan. Fearing the consequences of an organized vote bank, the main political parties have gone mute or turned the other cheek.”
He further stated that those four women should not be allowed to enter India as they have already been radicalized and trained and will pose a significant threat to internal security if permitted to return.
The Catholic Church has already issued a statement alleging that Muslim teenagers are luring several girls from the community into weddings and conversions. The synod of the Syro-Malabar Church, an elite body of Catholic Bishops presided by Cardinal George Alanchery, criticized the Kerala Police for not viewing the matter seriously.
“It is a reality that ‘Love Jihad’ is actually happening in Kerala in a planned manner targeting Christian girls,” it stated, claiming that half of the 21 females recruited by the Islamic State terror group were Christians.
Muslim organizations, on the other hand, have denied the existence of ‘Love Jihad.’ The Popular Front of India, considered a radical Muslim group, stated that no Muslim organizations in India have recognized the Islamic State.
(with inputs from Thanthi)
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